Harry Potter has become a legend for young adults worldwide. The Harry Potter phenomenon has gripped the hearts and minds of the readers with its magical and fantastic land. J.K. Rowling heavily draws upon classical mythology, myths, and folklores for the names and themes of the novels.
The essential element of the book is the creation of the mythical element of a magical world and the classical theme of a tension between two abstract concepts good and evil. The novels no doubt have references to ancient Greek, Roman, and Christian mythology. With reference to classical myths and a more modern, but fantastic hero is created through Harry Potter. Therefore, the question that this paper aims to answer is if Harry Potter is a hero in the classical sense. The thesis statement for the essay is that Harry Potter is an epic hero.
Harry Potter is the hero of the series of Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. He is an orphaned boy and lived in a world away from his family. Like the Greek hero, Harry too has been removed from the family environment. This essentially allows the hero to act without the fear of being drawn back by evil through manipulations of his family life. Similarly, harry has been removed from his family and he grows up as an orphan in an unfriendly and hostile house of his Aunt and Uncle.
Harry Potter lives in a mythical world of magic and creatures from classical mythology like a unicorn, centaurs, trolls, mermaids, etc. Most of the myths in the Harry Potter series have their origin in the Greek or Roman mythologies. The classical hero is created from Gods and Goddesses who then transcend into human civilization. Rowling too creates a child hero based on the ancient mythological model. Heroes from the classical mythologies are usually descendants of someone important or powerful (Segal 14). This idea of a hero was first initiated by Rank (Rank, The myth of the birth of the hero: a psychological interpretation of mythology 68).
This model is the universally accepted cycle of life – birth, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. A classical hero is predestined by birth and is not a character that is acquired. Similarly, Rowling’s Harry Potter is a hero by birth, when he closely escapes death from the deadly blow of Lord Voldermort. The encounter leaves a scar on his forehead that establishes his constant connection to the Dark Lord.
Till he is nine, he is separated from the magical world and does not even know of its existence. In addition, it is common to find in classical mythology that during the pregnancy of the mother, there are oracles or divine dreams cautioning against the birth of the child (Segal 14). A similar episode is observed in Harry’s life when the oracle makes Voldermort look for the child who would bring his end. According to Rank and Dundes, a child hero is then reared by foster parents after he is orphaned and later he returns to the place of his birth and gains magical power to kill the evil force (Rank and Dundes 140).
Like many classical heroes like Hercules, Zeus, Apollo, etc. Harry Potter too almost killed by Lord Voldermort after his birth. However, he survives and is removed to a discrete place in the “muggle” world, away from the world of magic. This is similar to the classical accounts of the aforesaid Greek heroes. Therefore, the account of Harry Potter’s birth is similar to the myths of the birth of classical heroes.
Harry’s greatness is expressed at the very beginning of the novel, as he was able to repulse the death curse by Voldermort that transforms the latter into a formless entity. Voldermort had remained undefeated by most of the powerful wizards of the time, and a mere child succeeded in it. A prophecy is foretold that states that harry will be the vehicle of the end for Voldermort in the most quintessential classical genre.
A classical hero is of strong moral fiber with honorable conduct and strong ethics sense. He is the possessor of boundless courage and stands as a role model for society. Similarly, Harry Potter adopts these moral and ethical characters and shows human qualities that are essentially missing in those who are evil. Thus, Harry shows loyalty, moral ethics, and love and care for others that are constantly reemphasized throughout the novels.
Therefore harry shows compassion and camaraderie for the weak and the neglected others like Ron hailing from a respected but poor wizarding family, Hermione who was ‘muggle born’, Neville Longbottom, Luna, Hagrid, etc. one such example is seen in the case of the fourth book, The Prisoner of Azkaban where Harry befriends the new defense against dark arts teacher Lupin, even though others make fun of him. Harry understands the meaning of poverty, himself having spent half in life in want of many desired objects. Therefore harry assumes the role of a perfect mythical hero.
A hero returns to his own land when he reaches adulthood (Campbell 287). Harry returns to the magical world when he is nine, the age when he enters the wizarding school Hogwarts. Like all classical heroes, Harry has power in his wand and he emerges from obscurity. The villains in all classical mythologies are power-hungry tyrants, established in a seat of power, whose doom lies in his arrogance (Campbell 289).
Like most classical villains, Lord Voldermort appears to be a classical villain who is proud of his own power that he assumes to be his own while neglecting the greater more powerful nature of magic itself. Harry emerging from the muggle world brings in the secret formula for the destruction of Voldermort. Such heroes can be found in nursery tales of Jack the Beanstalk where jack slays the giant that is similar to the tales of heroes like Herakles and Theseus (Campbell 292). Harry is the warrior hero who kills monsters like the giant Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets and kills the Horcruxes, till, in the end, he kills Voldermort himself.
Heroes are often described in classical mythologies as lovers (Campbell 293). In The Chamber of Secrets, Harry rescues Ginny, with whom he eventually falls in love and marries (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets). This demonstrates the classical character of a hero who saves his love from the villain. In the case of Harry, Ginny was taken in by Tom Riddle’s diary, the young Voldermort’s evil creation where he had hidden a part of his soul. Therefore, by saving Ginny, Harry shows another trait of a classical hero.
Harry was a fitting image of his father and mother. Harry’s parents were members of the Order of the Phoenix, the group that fought against the dark forces. Therefore, they were heroes in their own part. Harry grew up more like his father, with his looks and habits, but he had the sensibility of his mother. The series shows through mythical encounters that Harry and James Potter were one.
In the book, The Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry is rescued by his own Patronus, but he mistakes himself to be James Potter (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). Therefore, Harry’s resemblance is emphasized in the book, wherein Harry mistakes himself to be his father. Therefore, Harry becomes the image of his father in physical as well as to conduct.
A hero in the classical myth is found to be going through a series of riddle guessing journeys in order to reach the oppressor and bring forth his end (Raglan 191). A hero is found to come across various choices that actually show the difference between the good and evil in the myths. In case of Harry, during his initiation at Hogwarts, he did not want to be in Slytherin, and so the Sorting Hat put him to Gryffindor (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. ).
Therefore, this episode emphasizes the desire of the Hero to choose the right way. Further, through Harry’s journey through the six years of his life in the magical world, Harry gradually learns of the various ways and secrets of the magical world and absorbs them in order to kill Voldermort. Harry with the help of his two friends Ron and Hermione are found to solve riddles in order to reach Voldermort. Rowling uses the real name of Voldermort to be Tom Riddle indicative of the riddles that encompass the evil villain, who himself was a great wizard.
Harry Potter is an epic hero. He has the classic traits of a hero from classical mythology and a show how he transforms from a non-significant entity in the real world, is transcends to become a hero in the magical world. The use of classical themes, motifs, and creatures help in creating a mystifying world of harry Potter where he excels as a hero in the classical sense. Further the classical epic concept of a morally upright hero slaying the evil demon is revisited in harry Potter that makes him a complete epic hero.
Works Cited
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Novato, CA: New World Library, 2008. Print.
Raglan, Lord. The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama. London: Courier Dover Publications, 2003. Print.
Rank, Otto and Alan Dundes. In quest of the hero. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990. Print.
Rank, Otto. The myth of the birth of the hero: a psychological interpretation of mythology. NA: Forgotten Books, 1952. Print.
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London: Bloomsbury, 1999. Print.
—. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. London: Bloomsbury, 1997. Print.
—. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. London: Bloomsbury, 1999. Print.
Segal, Robert Alan. Hero myths: a reader. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2000. Print.